September 16, 2011

In their letter, the Republicans state incorrectly that, as mayor, I ordered Madison police to not participate "in any law enforcement actions to remove or control siege protesters within the Capitol." What happened is on that March day, our police department was asked if it would help forcibly remove protesters from the building. Chief Noble Wray refused on the grounds that he saw no credible public safety threat from the protesters.

It's now clear why the Republicans wanted the building cleared. That evening, they forced through a vote on the governor's union busting bill with less than the required legal notice.

And:

Not too long before, in the same building, the governor of our State told who he thought was a major campaign contributor that he and his staff had considered hiring thugs to create possibly violent disruptions to the protests, and he rejected that idea because it might have backfired politically. There was some indication that the suggestion to hire outside agitators had come from a Republican lawmaker.

There should be an investigation so that we can know just how seriously violent disruption of the protests was considered by Governor Walker, his staff and Republican lawmakers.